Hostería "El Arenal" — Hotel in Cumbaratza

The acres of grounds, many ponds, and varied vegetation - from a jungle ravine, to open pastures, to managed pond sites, to manicured gardens, result in probably the best birding in the area, although another hosteria is the one in the area that is famous for birding. Arenal's restaurant is very good, serving fish raised in their ponds and cheese from their own cows. The accommodations are pleasant, somewhat rustic. The location is a short taxi ride from town in a pretty, rural va!lley, beautiful and restful. We made arrangements from day to day with the same taxi driver to pick us up at Arenal and take us wherever we decided to go, Zamora, or Podocarpus National Park, and eventually back up the winding, landslide covered road away from the Amazon and through the foothills of the Andes, to Loja and the airport at Catamayo. The taxi was more nimble at negotiating the many landslides that were occurring at the start of the rainy season; the bus ride down to Zamora had been hair raising, the taxi back up was a pleasure and not terribly expensive. Overall, we really enjoyed our time at...

We came to Zamora to explore Podocarpus National Park and this hotel ended up being just as big a highlight. My 10-year-old son loved the pool and waterslide and the dogs that lived at the hotel (especially the two month old puppies, all ridiculously adorable). The restaurant was wonderful, especially the lomo, and we also loved walking the beautiful grounds of the place up to the lookout point. Not all the rooms here are very deluxe but we stayed in a particulary pretty two room suite. There did seem to be a lot of bats living in the roof of our cabin (not inside though!) so if nature sounds scare you, that could be an issue, but we didn't mind. All the staff were so friendly and helpful and the owner Humberto is a colorful character and such a warm,...

Travelled as part of a tour group and have stayed here previously. This part of Ecuador is hot and humid during the day and the room that I had this time only had a fan so air conditioning would have been appreciated. The windows were not screened but could be opened to try to get some limited air flow through the room. Thankfully ambient temperatures dropped later in the evening, so that the heat was not a continual problem. Both taps in the hand basin and shower were leaking badly. Vegetarian meals are not an easy option, but are catered for by special request. Drainage around a previous room that I stayed in seems to have been improved as it flooded during the night of that stay when there was a very heavy storm. The pool is clean and...